Let’s do munch: Cicheti at Veneto

When a Venetian runs into a friend in the street, the tradition is to stop in at the nearest bar for an ombra, or small glass of wine, and some cicheti, the Venetian equivalent of tapas. Now Jean-Louis De Mori, longtime owner of Locanda Veneta on 3rd Street, has opened the more casual Cafe Veneto next door with a long list of cicheti on the menu, all under $10.

It hasn’t taken long for the staff at Cedars-Sinai to discover the place. At lunch, surgeons in their green scrubs and medical personnel in white lab coats are ordering up plates of fried calamari and sauteed shrimp flamed in Pernod. Pizzas, also mostly under $10, go straight from the wood-burning oven to the table.

De Mori, who has been serving generous portions at Locanda Veneta for years, can’t stop himself from reminding guests that the portions here are small. But that’s exactly the point. This is a place where you can get a quick bite in a smart, comfortable setting.

He tells everyone who comes in that Cafe Veneto is exactly the kind of place he’d like to go to when he feels like something simple and casual. You can come in for a glass of wine and one small plate, he says, or spend a couple of hours.

At night, the crowd is more glamorous, the lighting softer. His idea is to stay open late enough that people can come in after a movie or play. Right now the kitchen closes at 11 p.m., but you can get pizza until midnight.

The pizza list is a mix of classics and inventions. There’s a diavola covered with pepperoni and jalapeno peppers, while the exotica mixes North African merguez sausage with green olives. The Napoli, though, disappoints with excessively salty anchovies.

Those flamed shrimp, sauteed in the shell, make a delightful bite with a salad of frisee and mache dressed in olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, and those fried calamari are some of the best around. There’s also a hearty white bean soup with crisped pancetta, and a clam soup in a light tomato broth.

Vegetarians get their own short list, which includes potato gnocchi baked with mozzarella and tomato, salads and a cazuela of roasted artichoke hearts.

Wines at Cafe Veneta are offered as ombra (a small 3.2-ounce pour), by the glass or by the bottle. Like De Mori’s heritage, the mix is Italian and French, with a few California wines thrown in for good measure.

The blackboard usually lists something the chef likes to make: chocolate pizza. It’s a crackling thin dough filled with Nutella (chocolate and hazelnut paste from Piedmont) and showered with powdered sugar. Incredibly sweet, it demands an espresso or macchiato.

With its good looks and appealingly inexpensive menu, Cafe Veneto is just what the doctor ordered.

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Cafe Veneto

Where: 8636 W. 3rd St., West Hollywood

When: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; dinner 5:30 to 11 p.m. (pizza served until midnight) Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. Full bar. Valet parking.

Cost: Cicheti (small dishes), $3.25 to $9.25; pizzas, $5.25 to $12.50; desserts, $5.50.

Info: (310) 273-3605